


Crystal Clear

by exactly13percent (superagentwolf)



Series: The AU Court [11]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Short & Sweet, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 16:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15223229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superagentwolf/pseuds/exactly13percent
Summary: Andreil Week 2018|Day 8: Free Choice-Your crystal is your heart and soul, manifested. You must keep it safe.Neil and Andrew don't have typical crystals. For one, they aren't whole. They're little pieces, broken by years of wrong. But Kevin's magic shop brings them together, and they figure maybe broken doesn't mean destroyed.





	Crystal Clear

You’re supposed to hide your crystal, if you haven’t found its pair.

It’s precious and fragile. If someone can see it, they can know you. They can know everything.

And everything about Neil is dangerous.

He never bothered to figure out what his crystal was. It’s something that swirls with color—deep purple, clear stone, and black. There might be green in it, too, but Neil isn’t sure. The colors have changed so many times he’s not sure he could figure out what it’s supposed to be.

Maybe it’s not a real crystal at all. Maybe it’s like him; impersonating other things instead of staying true to one thing.

Neil’s crystal is tiny. It used to be bigger, before it cracked and shattered. He keeps the pieces hidden, but he wears a rounded one on his right ear. The little orb flickers in the light, but it doesn’t look like anything, so no one ever knows. No one realizes that his crystal is on his ear, the same way his scars map across his skin.

He may be safe now, but safe doesn’t mean much. Not when the little crystal flickers dully and feels cold under his fingers.

Neil leaves the tiny town he’s stayed in for a year, because that’s as long as he can stay. He leaves, with the few things he owns in a bag on his shoulder, and he follows the silent ringing of a crystal he will never know.

* * *

Andrew has pieces of his heart and soul everywhere.

Well, what people say are his heart and soul.

The good thing is that obsidian is black. It doesn’t stand out to begin with. He has circular earrings, flat and black. There’s obsidian fragments in the knives under his armbands. He has a few pieces hidden away, somewhere no one can touch them.

He’s had a few curious glances, over the years. When people come by the shop. Nicky wears his crystal on a choker, a golden citrine that seems to shine from within. Even Kevin has one—a tiny opal that rests on his cheek, with pink and purple and blue specks in it. Aaron’s is on a necklace under his shirt, but the glow is visible.

So, all of his frie—coworkers are happy. Yay.

Not that Andrew cares. He doesn’t. He’s just irritated by the occasional looks he gets, when he’s trying to focus on finding the ingredients Aaron needs for a potion or the crystals Nicky wants for a reading.

Andrew spends most of his time tuning the world out and looking for what other people need. He doesn’t mind. That’s his job.

And he keeps doing it, right until Kevin comes into the store one day with a stranger in tow.

* * *

“Spells,” Kevin says.

Andrew stares at him. Then at the redhead by Kevin’s side. He has blue eyes and freckles and he looks like he should be another Nicky—warm and golden—but the blue in his eyes runs through his veins. There is something frozen about him. Like he’s a frozen-over lake that hasn’t felt the warmth of spring, yet.

His crystal is nowhere to be seen. What Andrew can see are scars, everywhere. They’re as populous as the freckles, but not as soft. They drag over his body in wandering paths that Andrew wants to follow, but the stranger is wearing long sleeves and jeans.

The worst jeans Andrew’s ever seen, but.

“What?” Aaron asks. His voice is flat and he regards Neil with caution. He knows broken when he sees it.

Because of Andrew.

“We do need spells,” Nicky muses. His eyes are brimming with interest, and he smiles a little at Neil like he thinks a friendly face will help. “What’s your specialty?”

“Defense,” Neil says. “I can do charms, too.”

“I bet,” Nicky says. He laughs and leans over the counter.

Neil doesn’t seem to get it. Either he’s an idiot, or he’s taken.

Not that Andrew cares.

Kevin sets Neil up in a corner of the store—he moves a bookshelf from behind the counter; his bookshelf—and gives Neil a table from the back and a few things. Andrew watches the change happen and wonders what’s so special about Neil.

Kevin gave up his book space for Neil.

While Neil settles, Andrew pulls Kevin aside with a glance. Kevin’s shoulders square like he thinks he’s going to argue, which is funny.

“You know him.”

It’s not a question. Kevin’s mouth is a thin line about as sharp as he is. “Yes.”

“How?”

“…earlier.”

Andrew doesn’t ask any more. He looks over at Neil and feels an itch run up his spine. He says, “I have to know.”

“Don’t—”

“Do you want me to keep us safe, or not?”

“You know it’s over.”

“You know nothing is ever over.”

Kevin sighs. He presses the heels of his hands into his eyes, but he doesn’t argue anymore. He just looks at Andrew and seems displeased. With himself, probably. “Fine.”

Andrew doesn’t need his blessing, but it’s good to have it. That way when something happens, Andrew can say, we talked about this.

* * *

His first full day, Neil notices Andrew stares. A lot.

At him.

He tries not to think about it too much. He focuses instead on work—Nicky decorates a new menu just for Neil, with potions and prices. They decide that charms can wait until people start to come back. Neil just does what he’s told.

He’s given the tiny corner room upstairs. It’s across the hall from Nicky’s and adjacent to Andrew’s. Kevin has the master bedroom, and all the others are supposed to be other things—like studies and living rooms. Aaron doesn’t live with them; he has his own place, with his girlfriend.

Neil wakes early. He always does, just to run. It’s a habit he can’t break.

When he comes out of his room, a hoodie thrown over his pajamas, he catches Andrew leaning against the window to the right of Neil’s door, a cigarette in hand. The window is cracked just a little to let the smoke out.

For a moment, Neil inhales and leans closer. He wants to fill his lungs with the smoke, but he realizes what he’s doing and turns on his heel instead.

He hopes his face isn’t red.

When he gets back, Andrew is gone. Neil showers away the memory and bundles into a thick sweater before he goes downstairs. He thinks about finding food nearby, but then Nicky appears at the register with bleary eyes. His face lights up when he sees Neil.

“There you are! Coffee and burrito?”

It takes a moment for Neil to comprehend, and another to answer. “Sure.”

Nicky gives him bacon and egg. It’s the best thing Neil has tasted in months. He finishes it almost in one bite and Nicky fondly gives him another and sits close. Neil doesn’t mind the proximity—not from Nicky. He radiates warmth in the same way some people radiate danger. Neil has never felt it before, and he decides he likes it a lot.

But the day goes on and then Neil feels Andrew burning holes through him. He wants to scream a little.

Someone orders a housewarming spell. Neil silently makes it, paper beneath his fingers and all of his pens by his wrist. He closes his eyes and lets his intuition guide him. When he finishes and opens his eyes, Andrew is staring.

Neil resists the urge to snap. He keeps his mouth shut and passes the spell to Nicky, whose cheer and winning smile enrapture all the customers.

The end of the day can’t come soon enough.

* * *

It takes a full week for Andrew to decide how to test Neil.

Not that it’s a new concept. Andrew always goes to Eden’s Twilight, where the so-called dregs of society, with their magic and otherness, gather. There are always a few fey around, with their arched faces and the flatness in their eyes as they peer down at the rest of the patrons.

Andrew gives Nicky the task of getting Neil into a new outfit. Andrew doesn’t want to handle it.

He is very aware of what he thinks about Neil as a concept. He is not so sold on Neil as a person.

Nicky seems like he wants to refuse, but he takes the clothes with a vaguely ill expression and hurried movements. By nighttime, Andrew waits at the front door with Kevin and Aaron and waits for the other two in their party.

When Neil comes downstairs, Andrew thinks maybe he fucked up.

He is too interested in the way Neil looks in black jeans that actually fit and his black shirt rides up a little on the side like he forgot to pull it down all the way. Andrew can see the edge of toned muscle at Neil’s side and he feels irrationally irritated.

Neil’s hair is out of place, and that’s when Andrew notices the little earring. It’s on his right ear and it’s a rough orb. It sparks a little, reflective when he turns his head in the light.

“We’re going,” Andrew says shortly. He can’t look anymore.

The others try to be cheery and upbeat, but Neil knows what’s up. He’s smarter than that. Andrew vacillates between being impressed and being amused.

Eden’s Twilight is thriving. The lights pulse and the scent of spices and earth waft through the place. Andrew goes to the usual table and then turns to the bar. Before he goes, he gives Neil a dispassionate stare.

He hopes.

“Let’s go.”

Andrew doesn’t look back to see, but he knows Neil follows. It’s the weird sensation he’s starting to notice more around him. Like Neil’s magic is smoke and it just wafts everywhere he goes in a tiny cloud.

They’re halfway to the bar when a fey catches sight of Andrew. Their eyes glimmer like cut glass and Andrew grits his teeth. The knives on his arms call to him but he doesn’t answer. He knows he can’t be touched, but the look is almost as bad. It is just as unwelcome.

Andrew isn’t going to do anything but keep walking, but the fey leans in. Their hair brushes his shoulder and he wants to rip it from the head by his face. The question that comes is posed like a statement. It has a tendril of magic running through it, but Andrew is immune. “You are free.”

A hand descends to Andrew’s shoulder. He watches out of morbid curiosity. He’s never had someone attempt contact in a casual setting and he wonders how bad the reaction will be.

He never finds out. Neil steps around Andrew and right into the fey. He bumps them out of place—a flicker of rage crosses their fine features—and then Neil looks at them. He says, absolutely and unworriedly, “Oh. Whoops.”

There is no inflection in his voice. Nothing, but Andrew can see from the side the little flame in Neil’s eyes. The way he stares down the fey like he’s standing toe-to-toe with a four-year-old and not a fey. Not an ancient being that could and would gut him.

“You—”

“On my way,” Neil says. “To the bar. Come on.”

He doesn’t touch Andrew. Neil just motions and waits, like this is nothing new. Like he hasn’t done anything monumentally stupid.

Andrew loves it.

He hates it.

He really shouldn’t be feeling anything, but he keeps walking toward the bar and he knows Roland sees what’s going on the moment they lock eyes. Roland glances between Neil and Andrew, uncertainty on his features, but he keeps his mouth shut.

Thank God.

Andrew needs a drink, or two.

Roland gives him three.

* * *

A woman comes in and flirts with Neil like there’s no tomorrow.

It’s been two weeks since Eden’s Twilight, and Andrew can’t stand it. He watches Neil come out of his room every morning to run and watches him leave every evening to do the same.

Andrew sees Neil help Nicky with dinner, always offering to cut the onions and pretending he doesn’t have tears streaming down his face while he does it. Neil picks wildflowers and herbs for Aaron on his runs, and Aaron makes Neil spells in little bottles that he finds in his favorite stores. Neil brings Kevin old books every weekend and Kevin holds them like they’re the most precious things in his world.

Neil gives Andrew distance, and Andrew both hates and loves it.

He wants and he isn’t sure how to handle that. Andrew just keeps his mouth shut, and then some woman comes in and asks for a love potion.

And she drapes herself over the counter like she’s about to climb onto it and dance.

“You’re new, right?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so,” she says. She smiles and laughs and Andrew thinks it’s really annoying. He’s not sure if it’s just him, or her. Or both.

Neil is absorbed in his spell—he has a sharpie in hand and a scrap of rough brown paper beneath his fingers—but he keeps glancing up. At first, Andrew thinks it’s interest. He’s annoyed by it.

Then, he realizes Neil is antsy. He keeps finding the woman looking at him and turns to his work.

It’s about that time that Andrew realizes that Neil is confused. He is neither interested nor flustered. He is fucking confused. He does not know she is flirting.

He. Does. Not. Know.

Andrew wants to throw himself out onto the street. He wants to jump out of the second-floor window. He wants to ask Aaron for a potion to give him temporary amnesia. He wants anything but this—this image of Neil before him, streaks of hair gold in the sunlight, his blue eyes bright as he settles in behind his tiny desk in the corner.

The little earring on Neil’s ear glints and Andrew feels it cut through his heart.

“I’ll have to come back often,” the woman says. She reaches her arm out like she expects Neil to hand the spell directly to her.

Andrew almost fucking chokes when Neil passes it to Nicky, who is three feet away. Nicky does choke.

“Thanks,” Neil says.

That’s it.

Once the woman is gone, Nicky buries his face in his hands. He looks like he’s not sure whether to laugh or to cry. “Neil. Sweetie. We need to work on your letdown.”

“What?”

Andrew stares. He stares like he can make Neil less stupid just by looking. Neil just turns his gaze to Andrew and asks again. “What?”

* * *

Neil finds Andrew by the window, except Andrew is very far away.

His usual move is to go. To leave for his run.

But something is different.

The smoke that Andrew usually carries with him is different. Lately, Neil has felt something different. It’s not so much a smell as it is a sensation. A haziness that comes through his mind when Andrew is near.

At first, he thought it was a curse or a spell. A warning. He assumed it was to keep him away.

Except lately, Neil has begun to taste vanilla and cinnamon on his tongue. He’s started to feel grass underfoot and other things he can’t explain.

So, Neil stops by the window. He digs his hands into his hoodie and inhales some of the smoke. “Cold?”

“No,” Andrew says. The word comes out somehow slow. Neil just nods.

There is silence. Andrew doesn’t add anything, and then he turns on Neil and his eyes are a strange mix of brown and green. Hazel, Neil thinks. “Why did you stop?”

Neil isn’t sure how to answer. He feels his eyebrows hike over his eyes. “I—didn’t.” No, that’s not right, he thinks. “I can—I’ll go—”

“Why?” Andrew asks, again. His eyes seem very close.

Neil opens his mouth but nothing comes out. For some reason, he follows a barely-there line from Andrew’s forehead and to his nose. Down to—

—his lips are on Neil’s and they are very warm.

Neil thinks he makes a noise—a little _ah_ , because he realizes something—and then his world is nothing but the mouth pressing against his. Andrew’s hand curls around his neck, holds him, and Neil wants to fall.

He thinks he already has.

Neil has never done this before. He is terrified but also lost, because he doesn’t have enough time to think about how to do whatever it is he’s supposed to do. All he can do is react. Andrew’s tongue presses against his lips and all he knows is _yes_ , he does want that, and his lips part for Andrew.

There are not enough words for what he feels. For the heat between them while Andrew pins Neil’s hands to the wall.

Andrew does something very nice with his tongue and Neil moans probably a little too loud. He remembers there are other people in the apartment and realizes Kevin is probably about to come out of his room. Is Nicky up yet?

He thinks too much and then Andrew pulls back. His lips are red and his cheeks are a little bit red and Neil hopes he looks the same. He’s also very in love with the way Andrew’s hair looks, pushed up in the back from where he backed into the wall.

“You should be running,” Andrew says.

Neil laughs, but it’s so short and weak that it sounds more like a huff. “I wouldn’t go if you held a gun to my head.”

“That can be arranged,” Andrew says, but there’s still something dark in his eyes. A tenseness.

Neil leans in a little. He watches the half-second reaction—the way Andrew’s lids lower—but Neil holds himself just far enough away. He wants to say something. Needs to.

“I don’t have anywhere to run, but back. Here. To—”

“You,” Andrew growls. He yanks Neil in again by his jacket and this time, it’s not as careful.

Neil feels like he could be rebuilt, this way. He hopes he is. He wants nothing more than for Andrew to disassemble him, on quiet mornings when no one else is there to intrude.

Kevin’s door opens and Andrew barely moves away from Neil. The sound their lips make when they part makes Neil feel like his face is on fire. He is very glad his back is to Kevin.

One step later, there is silence. Silence and Andrew, who glares over Neil’s shoulder.

“Morning,” Kevin says. He is a hopeless idiot, Neil thinks.

But then, Andrew seems to like idiots.

Neil is just glad he beats Kevin, in that department.

**Author's Note:**

> A little universe I had the idea for and want to explore more. Maybe I'll do a remix later with more chapters. I hope you enjoy! I loved Andreil Week and I hope you all did, too!


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